Following the team with a unique perspective on all things Phillies.Email me: PhilliesPhollowers@comcast.net – Peace, Love & Baseball – Jenn

Pen Blows It Again While Offense Sits Idly By

If it wasn’t blatantly obvious that this bullpen was overworked before, it sure is now.Chad Durbin, who has been great all year, blew a 2-run lead in the eighth inning to tie up the game, eventually leading to a 7-6 loss to the Dodgers.It was his second blown lead in two days.Clay Condrey put the nail in the coffin, giving up the walk-off homer to fresh off the DL, Nomar Garcia-Parra.

But this game started to go downhill with the starter.Joe Blanton, I believe, showed his true potential in this game and that is not good.Yes, he had two good starts before this one, but one was against the Pirates, who are not so great, and the other was on basically 10 days rest, because the outing prior he only went 2 innings due to rain.This was the real test against a real team on normal rest and he failed.5 innings, 9 hits, 4 earned runs and 3 walks – not good.When your team puts up a 5 run lead, you can’t just give the other team back those runs.

But that brings me to the next issue; where did the offense go after the second inning?Guess they figured they had worked hard enough for the day and decided to take a nap.Actually, this has been the issue for a long time now – NO situational hitting; they are not getting hits in key spots and everyone is swinging for the fences instead of trying to put the ball in play.Think I am crazy?Look at the scoreboard – all 6 runs came on 3 home run balls: Howard,Dobbs & Werth.And the guys that were on base for them to rack up the RBI’s?Two of the three were walks (one HBP-Utley) – not even hits.Well, this team is good at two things – drawing walks and hitting homers; that is apparent.But right now, the rest of their game is in the toilet.

And how many times are we going to see Phillies at bat with 2 strikes on them not protecting the plate?They either just stand there and watch it for strike 3 or they swing away without attempting to locate the pitch (guessing at the pitch).You need to try to foul it off if you don’t like it or try your best to put it in play.Isn’t anyone teaching them this?Granted, these are things they should know, but perhaps they need a reminder?When things are going bad, it is time for the coaches to step up and do some actual coaching.

And then to top off a lovely 3 game losing streak, Jimmy Rollins has to infuriate fans by speaking out on The Best Damn Sports Show Period last night.Here is the video clip (UPDATE: 8/14 PM I added a new video feed which includes Jimmy’s post-show response to the fan uproar):

So, what do you guys think?I really love the last comment about Oakland and how those fans simply don’t show up.Shouldn’t Phillies players be happy that we show up?Hey, I am as big a fan as they come and, as far as attending or watching games, I don’t care if they suck or not…I just love baseball so I am still going to the games regardless.But how would they feel if, collectively, we didn’t show up?Maybe a little praise instead of the annoyance that Rollins shows here would have been in order to thank the fans for showing up?I still love Jimmy; I know he always speaks his mind and I admire that, but I do think he should remember that the fans want to be on his side…a little “encouragement” as he pointed out, goes a long way.

5 Comments

Just saw the video. Jay-Ro did not go there!!!!! Hey Jimmy, expect the boo birds to be in force when you guys come to the Bank next Tuesday. They’re going to be giving you the kind of love the Phillies faithful can give a player when given that kind of encouragement.

Didn’t think about it, but you might be right about the bullpen being overworked. Of course, nothing much can be done as long as the offense continues to stay asleep while in the field and refusing to play situational baseball. Now, while I have nothing home runs, as long as you keep trying to hit the fences the other teams’ pitchers are going to exploit it by not giving you balls to hit out of the fence. Man, I think all of us Phillies’ bloggers are starting to sound like broken records on this. Of course, noone seems to be listening.

Rollins may have been more right than wrong with what he said, he still has to realize that he is on camera on has a mic on him. Certain players understand that it’s more acceptable for fans to speak their mind by booing or cheering at the drop of a hat than it is for a player to critcize the fans. I think the best over the years has been Jeter in NY (which has more fair-weather fans than any other city). Each time he has been booed for making an error or whatever his response is always the same: “Well, I screwed up. What would you expect them to cheer?”
Although I think deep down everyone understands where Rollins is coming from, he still has to realize that comments like that resonate throughout an entire fanbase and can turn some fans agaisnt him. It will be interesting to see what happens next time he is introduced over the speaker at CBP on Tuesday.

I get the feeling like a lot of people are very unhappy…he will probably get booed…BAD. Personally, I am not big on booing, but I think everyone has the right to express their opinions. I am certainly not happy with this team right now…I just express it differently. And, yeah, you gotta love Jeter…he’s the man :o) Takes everything in stride. You wish all players could take a page from his book.

i have a family of 4, i used to go to the park 4 to 5 times a year, nowadays for 4 tickets its close to $100 food close to 50 parking $20 gas for my car well you know how gas
prices are, if i spend half a weeks salary i feel i deserve the
right to boo when i want not crazy cursing boos but you get the point, Philadelphia is a blue coller city all you have to do is play hard and we will love you ask Aaron Rowand
J Roll is a primadonna as who cant handle it, he tries to be
a leader but he dont have it in him, he openes his mouth to make NY hate him now he managed to have his fans hate him as well, i think when you sign that contract you take everything that comes with it like the boos & cheers. Play Hard and grow up JROLL

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